1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wringer mops and more particularly to a wringer mop having a metal mop head which is provided with a cleaning implement such as a scrubber pad or scrub brush to thereby enable the mop to be used to perform the dual function of washing a floor with a mop in the normal manner, and alternatively to remove soil resistant to removal by washing by applying an abrasive surface to the floor or wall being cleaned.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, wringer mops with scrubber attachments are known in the prior art. The following twenty patents are relevant to the field of the present invention.
1. U.S. Pat. No. 1,462,829 issued to Roberts on Jul. 24, 1923 for “Scraper Attachment For Brooms” (hereafter the “Roberts patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,701,888 issued to Vosbikian on Feb. 15, 1955 for “Detachable Bracket For Mops With Cleaning Material” (hereafter the “'888 Vosbikian patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,152 issued to Vosbikian on Jul. 21, 1959 for “Mops With Replaceable Mop Heads And Extractor Mechanism” (hereafter the “'152 Vosbikian patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,754 Issued to Zottola on Dec. 15, 1959 for “Mop With Cam Wringer” (hereafter the “Zottola patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,767 issued to Burkhart on Aug. 12, 1986 for “Wringer Mop” (hereafter the “Burkhart patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,920 issued to O'Neil on Apr. 7, 1987 for “Sponge Mop With Scrubber Attachment” (hereafter the “O'Neil patent”);
7. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 295,912 issued to Jones on May 24, 1988 for “Wringer Mop Head With Scrubber” (hereafter the “Jones patent”);
8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,720 issued to Decoopman on Jan. 16, 1996 for “Sponge Mop” (hereafter the “Decoopman patent”);
9. U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,750 issued to Vosbikian on Feb. 6, 1996 for “Sponge Mop Attachment” (hereafter the “'750 Vosbikian patent”);
10. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 420,775 issued to Petner on Feb. 15, 2000 for “Butterfly Sponge Mop With Integral Molded Head” (hereafter the “'775 Petner patent”);
11. U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,378 issued to Petner on Jul. 11, 2000 for “Self-Wringing Swab Mop With Scrubber” (hereafter the “'378 Petner patent”);
12. U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,581 B1 issued to Lewis on Jan. 30, 2001 for “Mop Scrubber Adapter” (hereafter the “Lewis patent”);
13. U.S. Reissued Pat. No. RE37,415 E issued to Petner on Oct. 23, 2001 for “Cam Actuated Roller Mop With Scrubber Attachment” (hereafter the “Reissue Petner patent”);
14. U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,240 B1 issued to Laux on Jan. 8, 2002 for “Modular Sponge Mop” (hereafter the “Laux patent”);
15. U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,045 B2 issued to Fernandez on Jul. 8, 2003 for “Roller Self-Wringing Sponge Mop With Scrubber” (hereafter the “Fernandez patent”);
16. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0016072 A1 to Libman on Jan. 29, 2004 for “Wringer Mop With Removable Mop Head” (hereafter the “Libman patent”);
17. U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,056 B1 issued to Oretti on Mar. 2, 2004 for “Butterfly Sponge Mop With Angle-Adjustable Handle” (hereafter the “Oretti patent”);
18. EP Application No. EP 1 142 526 A1 filed on Nov. 30, 2000 for “Wringer Mop With Removable Mop Head”;
19. U.S. Pat. Des. 290,892 issued on Jul. 14, 1987 to Slany for “Combined Floor Scrubber And Mop” (hereafter “Slany patent”);
20. WIPO Patent WO 0/03566 A1 to Petner and assigned to Quickie Manufacturing Corporation (hereafter “Patent WO-01/03566 A1).
The Roberts patent which issued in 1923 is a scraper attachment for brooms. Specifically focusing on FIG. 1 and on the second column on the first page beginning on Line 64 it states “Bar 6 on both of the edges of its angles is provided with a plurality of apertured lugs or ears 9, by means of which the bar may be securely fastened to the brush block.” This is just simply fastening the scraper by three screws to the head of the broom.
The '888 Vosbikian patent which issued in 1955 is a detachable bracket for mops with cleaning material. This is simply a rectangular bracket for holding bristle broom brushes and contains a screw mechanism by which it is attached to the sponge mop portion.
The '152 Vosbikian patent which issued in 1959 is dealing with mops with replaceable mop heads and an extractor mechanism. This essentially involves attachment of a brush to a sponge mop and consists of a metal bracket with bolts through it which are fastened by wing nuts.
The Zottola patent deals with a mop with a cam wringer and also has a method of attaching a brush to the cam wringing portion of the mop. Specifically, the focus of this invention deals with plate 60 which carries brush 22. Plate 60 is secured to plate 41 which has the cam action wringer for the sponge mop through means of bolts passing through the brush 22, plate 60 and plate 41 held in position by knurled nuts 69 and 70.
The Burkhart patent discloses a wringer sponge mop and scrubber attachment, the scrubber attachment carrying a detachable scrubber pad. Referring to Column 2 beginning on Line 46, the patent states “The scrubber attachment 40 in the embodiment illustrated at FIGS. 1 to 4 is defined by rigid bent wire 46, either integral or of several wire pieces welded together, such that the end portions of the scrubber attachment 40 define a U-portions 47 over which the channel member 42 may be slid. Each one of a pair of arm members extending from U-loop portions 47 includes a loop 48, to thereby define an apertured ear, each loop 48 terminating in an extending arm portion 50. The portions 46, 48, and 50 define a rigid frame member . . . As illustrated in FIG. 4, the pad carrying channel member 42 is slidable on and off of wire frame 45.” With respect to the second embodiment most notably illustrated in FIG. 7, the scrubber attachment 100 includes a horizontal run 102 of stiff wire. The numeral 120 denotes a stiff, sheet metal base having a central, longitudinal running channel 122 and longitudinally running overhanging flanges 124 to provide stiffness to the base. Therefore, the wire is slid into this base for purposes of attaching the scrubber.
The O'Neil, Jr. patent deals with a sponge mop with a scrubber attachment. It includes a scrubber attachment fixedly mounted to a wringer type sponge mop without the necessity for any extra attaching hardware. The scrubber attachment carries a scrubber pad that is secured to the mop head at a predetermined angle. The attachment is best illustrated in FIG. 4 wherein the attachment 40 consists of a plastic plate or sheet. It also includes a pair of ears 46 having a central aperture through which the axles of the sponge mop protrude as illustrated in the cross-sectional views of FIGS. 2 and 3.
The Jones patent discloses a design patent for a wringer mop head with a scrubber.
The Decoopman patent deals with a sponge mop. The device includes a scraper as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14. The scraper includes a pad 47 secured to the support plate which in turn is fit into a cylindrical member by means of the portion they called finger 49. Referring to Column 10, line 59, the patent states “In order to avoid any untimely disconnection of the pad 47 from the support plate 48, the rail 58 projecting from the front face of said support plate 48 advantageously has a first abutment face 60 situated at one end and a first portion 61 of a snap-fastening system situated near its opposite end. The groove 59 in the rear face of the backing plate 57 then has a second abutment face 62 situated at one end and a second portion 63 of the same snap-fastening system situated towards its opposite. The pad is mounted on the support plate 48 by causing the groove 59 to slide on the projecting rail 58. The sliding is continued until the first and second abutment faces 60 and 62 and also the first and second portions of the snap-fastening system 61, 63 co-operate mutually so as to hold the pad locked in position.”
The '750 Vosbikian patent deals with a sponge mop attachment. The device which holds the scrubber is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 9 and includes two detent tabs 14 and 15 which fit into cutouts in the mops 10 and 11. Also, there are openings 19 and 18 to receive a front tip of the squeeze arms 6 and 7.
The '775 Petner patent appears to have the same structural features of the previous Vosbikian patent with respect to the attachment of the scrubber, although it does not have the front housing to which the scrubber is attached as in the Vosbikian patent.
The '378 Petner patent discloses a self-wringing swap mop with a scrubber. Referring to Column 3, line 24, it states “Attached to flat outer surface 24 is an abrasive scrubber member 26. It will be appreciated that scrubber member 26 can be an abrasive pad, brush or similar course surface which can be permanently attached to the outer surface 24 or attached by means of Velcro.”
The Lewis patent is a mop scrubber adapter. Referring particularly to Column 3, line 32, the patent states “As best shown in FIG. 3, the scrubber adapter 10 has detent tabs 40 which fit the sides and front of the head attachment 16. Two arms 44 extend rearwardly from the scrubber adapter 10, each arm having a side detent tab 40 at an end thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, the side detent tabs 40 are sized for insertion into a notch 48 of the head attachment A front detent tab 50 extends rearwardly from the adapter 10 and is sized to extend from a lower rear edge 52 of the head attachment 16.”
The Reissue Petner patent is a cam actuated roller mop with a scrubber attachment. The mop is combined with an integral mop attachment with an outer abrasive surface, designed and formed to be positioned within a wall surface. The attachment is removable and interchangeable for use on similarly configured roller mops. Referring to Column 4, line 60, the patent states “Frame 14 further preferably supports a removable floor scrubbing mop attachment 20 which has a planar abrasive scrubbing surface 24 as illustrated best in FIGS. 1 and 11.” Referring to Column 5, line 18, the patent further states “As seen FIG. 11, removable mop attachment 20 includes a planar support panel 74 and is maintained in position in tunnel housing 42 of frame 14 by side support guides 76 and a central support stop 78, all of which are preferably integrally molded with mop attachment 20 as a single piece of plastic.”
The Laux patent relates to a modular sponge mop. The sponge mop is retained on a backing plate. Referring to Column 3 beginning on line 55, it states “As may best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 8, the backing plate 52 further includes a pair of spaced legs 70, 72 located adjacent opposing lateral sides of the backing plate 52. The legs 70, 72 are adapted to slide through corresponding slots 74, 76 extending into the front edge 18 from the lower side thereof. In addition, each of the legs 70, 72 includes a respective tang portion 78, 80 extending perpendicularly thereto. The tang portions 78, 80 engage a back surface 82 (FIG. 3) of the front edge 18 whereby the backing plate 52 is held in contact with the front edge 18 as it is inserted upwardly to engage the legs 70, 72 within the slots 74, 76.”
The Fernandez patent is a roller self-wringing sponge mop with a scrubber. The scrubber designated as 42 is provided on the narrow end of the mop head 14. The scrubber/scraper 42 includes a scrubbing material 42a and scraper edge 42b. The scrubber/scraper 42 is attached to the mop head 14 in a removable manner such as by projections that slide within undercuts on the end of the mop head 14 and are held tightly by an interference fit.
The Libman patent application is a published application which was published on Jan. 29, 2004. This patent application discloses a slot arrangement for retaining a working brush. Referring to Section 46 of the application, it states “For further convenience, the working end 24 of the mop can be provided with a removable brush 92. The brush illustrated in FIG. 22 has a slotted resilient web 93 that fits within a sleeve 95 on the working end of the mop (FIG. 21). The web comprises a depression 97 that engages an internal knob 99 in the sleeve to hold the brush in place.”
The European Patent Application is in effect the European publication of the Libman patent is disclosed above. This is the reason that the application was published. It effectively discloses the same thing as just discussed in the U.S. Libman patent publication.
The Oretti patent is a butterfly sponge mop with an angle-adjustable handle. The patent also discloses an auxiliary cleaning tool and the method by which it is attached as best illustrated in FIG. 7. Referring to Column 6, the patent states “The illustrated embodiment of the present invention also includes means for selectively mounting an auxiliary cleaning tool 70, such as a scourer or a squeegee, on the front of the body portion 40 of the swivel housing 34. As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 7, the auxiliary cleaning too 70 is mounted by a mounting plate 72 provided on the auxiliary cleaning tool 70 that is slidably lockable in a complementary key structure 74 formed in the front of the body portion 40.”
Going to line 51, the Oretti patent states “The key structure 74 is advantageously molded of a plastic material such as polypropylene or polyethylene and may be designed and configured to positively permanently snap-fit to the body portion 40 of the swivel housing 34.” Also, referring to Column 7 and in particular, FIG. 8, the patent states “The forward edge of the cover 624 is provided with a key structure 626 for securing a tool mounting plate 550. The tool mounting plate has integral slide elements 552, 554 and 556 which cooperate with the key structure 626 to secure the mounting plate to the front of the pivot mop assembly.”
The Slany patent is a design patent that has a scrubber attached to the mop shaft.
The WO 01/03566 A1 Patent, this is the same as the United States patent to Petner discussed as the Reissue patent with the scrubber on the self wringing mop.
There is a significant need for an improved attachment mechanism to removably and securely retain a cleaning implement such as a scrubber pad or scrub brush on a wringer mop.